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Dougla people (plural ''Douglas'') are Caribbean people who are of mixed African and
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
descent. The word ''Dougla'' (also Dugla or Dogla) is used throughout the Dutch and English-speaking Caribbean.


Definition

The word ''Dougla'' originated from doogala (), which is a Caribbean Hindustani word that literally means "two-necks" and may mean "many", "much" or "a mix". In the West Indies, the word is used only for mixed race Afro-Indians. The word has its etymological roots in Hindi, where "do" means "two" and "gala" means "throat," potentially referring to people who could speak Indian and African languages. The 2012 Guyana census identified 29.25% of the population as Afro-Guyanese, 39.83% as Indo-Guyanese, and 19.88% as "mixed," recognized as mostly representing the offspring of the former two groups. In the French West Indies ( Guadeloupe, Martinique), mixed Afro-Indian people used to be called Batazendyen or Chapé-Kouli.


History

There are sporadic records of Indo-Euro interracial relationships, both consensual and nonconsensual, before any ethnic mixing of the African and Indian variety. Other Indo-based types of mixed heritage (Indo-Chinese ( Chindians), Indo-Latino/Hispanic (Tegli), Indo-English ( Anglo-Indians), Indo-Portuguese (
Luso-Indian Luso-Indians or Portuguese-Indian, is a subgroup of the larger multiracial ethnic creole people of Luso-Asians. Luso-Indians are people who have mixed varied Indian subcontinent and European Portuguese ancestry or people of Portuguese descent ...
s), Indo-Irish ( Irish Indians), Indo-Scottish ( Scottish-Indians), Indo- Dutch, Indo-
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
and Indo- Amerindian) tended to identify as one of the older, unmixed ethnic strains on the island: Afro, Indo, Amerindian or Euro or passing as one of them.


In Trinidad culture

In 1961, the calypsonian musician Mighty Dougla (born Cletus Ali) described the predicament of Douglas:


Notable Douglas

* Cletus Ali, Trinidadian musician, better known as Mighty Dougla *
Tatyana Ali Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and singer best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from 1990 to 1996. She starred as Tyana Jones on the TV One original series '' Love That Girl!'', a ...
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Indo-Trinidadian Indo-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or Indian-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Trinidad and Tobago whose ancestors came from India and the wider subcontinent beginning in 1845. Indo-Trinidadians an ...
/ Afro-Panamanian American actress * Esther Anderson, actress (United Kingdom; born in Jamaica) * Johnson Beharry, Grenadian British soldier in the
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* Melissa Bell, Jamaican British singer and mother of Alexandra Burke * Foxy Brown, rapper (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background) * Alexandra Burke, British Jamaican singer and daughter of Melissa Bell * Super Cat, Jamaican deejayBarrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae'', Rough Guides, , p. 286 *
Sabrina Colie Sabrina Diana Colie is an actor and film and theatre director. She was born in Mandeville, Jamaica and resides in New York City. Education Colie completed her elementary education at Mt. St. Joseph Preparatory and high school and sixth form at ...
, actress (United States; born in Jamaica) * Mervyn Dymally, Trinidadian American politician * Special Ed, rapper (United States; Jamaican background) * Marlene Malahoo Forte, politician (Jamaica) *
Amy Ashwood Garvey Amy Ashwood Garvey (''née'' Ashwood; 10 January 1897 – 3 May 1969) was a Jamaican Pan-Africanist activist. She was a director of the Black Star Line Steamship Corporation, and along with her former husband Marcus Garvey she founded the '' N ...
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Masaba Gupta Masaba Gupta (born 2 November 1989) is an Indian fashion designer and an actress with her own label called House of Masaba. Early life Masaba Gupta was born in 1989 and is the daughter of Indian actress Neena Gupta and West Indies cricketer Vi ...
, actress and fashion designer (Antiguan and Indian) * Lisa Hanna, Miss World 1993, MP Saint Ann South Eastern * Kamala Harris,
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of the United States (Jamaican and South Indian) *
Maya Harris Maya Lakshmi Harris (born January 30, 1967) is an American lawyer, public policy advocate, and writer. Harris was one of three senior policy advisors for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign's policy agenda and she also served as chair o ...
, lawyer and writer (Jamaican and South Indian) * Lester Holt, U.S. news anchor and journalistToday Show: "Lester and Jenna trace their Jamaican roots"
Aired on September 9, 2012
* Kenny J, calysonian * Diana King, singer (United States; born in Jamaica) *
Jeffery Kissoon Jeffery Kissoon (born 4 September 1947) is an actor with credits in British theatre, television, film and radio. He has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company at venues such as the Royal National Theatre, under directors including Peter ...
, actor * Sonnet L'Abbé, Guyanese Canadian poet * Sir Trevor McDonald, Trinidadian British news anchor and journalist *
Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents ...
, singer, rapper (United States; born in Trinidad and Tobago) * Nicole Narain, model and actress * Rajee Narinesingh, LGBT activist (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background) * Furdjel Narsingh, footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background) * Luciano Narsingh, footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background) * Roxanne Persaud, politician (United States; born in Guyana) *
Yendi Phillips Yendi Amira Phillipps (born 8 September 1985) is a Jamaican TV host, model and beauty queen who was the winner of the Miss Jamaica World 2007 beauty pageant, as well as the Miss Jamaica Universe 2010 pageant. She represented Jamaica at the Mis ...
, model (Jamaica) *
Thara Prashad Thara Natalie Prashad (born January 16, 1982), also known as Thara, is an American R&B singer and model. Her father is Indo-Guyanese while her mother is part Irish and part African-American. Formerly signed to the Desert Storm label most known f ...
, singer and model * Gema Ramkeesoon, social worker and women's rights activist (Trinidad and Tobago) * Kumar Rocker, American baseball player (African American and Telugu) * Kenneth Salick, chutney soca singer *
Krishmar Santokie Krishmar Santokie (born 20 December 1984) is a cricketer who plays for Jamaica and has represented the West Indies at international Twenty20 level. He bowls left-arm medium pace and is a lower order batsman. Domestic career He represented the G ...
, cricketer * Abrahim Simmonds, youth advocate (Jamaica) *
Toni-Ann Singh Toni-Ann Singh (born February 1996) is a Jamaican beauty queen who won Miss World 2019. She was previously crowned Miss Jamaica World 2019 and is the fourth woman from Jamaica to win Miss World. She is also the longest-reigning Miss World in th ...
, Miss World 2019 (Jamaica) * XXXTentacion, rapper * Justine Skye, entertainer (Jamaica) *
Joyce Vincent Joyce Carol Vincent (19 October 1965 – December 2003) was an English woman whose death went unnoticed for more than two years as her corpse lay undiscovered at her bedsit in north London. Prior to her death, she had cut off nearly all contact ...
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See also

*
Indo-African (disambiguation) African-Indian, usually refers to people of mixed Indian and African heritage. *By demographic ** Dougla, Caribbean people who are of mixed African and Indian descent. *Members of the Indian diaspora living in Africa and citizens of India living ...
*
Marabou (ethnicity) Marabou (french: marabout) is a term of Haitian origin denoting multiracial admixture. The term, which comes originally from the African Marabouts, describes the offspring of a Haitian person of mixed race: European, African, Taíno and South ...


References


Further reading

* Barratt, Sue A, and Aleah N. Ranjitsingh. ''Dougla in the Twenty-First Century: Adding to the Mix''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2021. . See also CUNY Asian and Asian American Research Institut
author interview
on 19 November 2021. {{Indian diaspora Ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago Multiracial affairs in the Caribbean Multiracial affairs in South America * Indo-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean